Whoa! So you think homosexuality is only about the sex act? Would you define heterosexuality as only being about a man wanting to have sex with a woman? No love? No companionship? Simply the sex act? No one that I know of is asking our society to rearrange its marriage laws for a sex act. I'm pretty sure that happens just fine without the law getting involved. What people are asking for is legal recognition of a loving, committed relationship.

No, apparently non-Christians can also be self-deceptively moral, or, additionally, immoral but only due to their pride in being moral. Clear as mud? :cheers2:

Your thinly veiled insult has no real place in this discussion. I only addressed the "sins" of murder/robbery/pillaging that Virgina Dawn referred to. (Although, considering the many times God directly instructed people to do just those things, this conversation has taken an ironic turn.) I can assure you that I am not deceiving myself in believing that I am above those actions without needing a religion to tell me to be that way. I am fully aware of the Christian worldview on this subject, and I am certain I am far from being moral by those definitions. But as others have pointed out, those definitions seem to change as it becomes convenient, so perhaps I'm just ahead of my time. :001_huh:

Better than people who would murder, etc. if it weren't for their religion telling them not to. She said that if the "majority of the people in our society came to believe that there is no God and no reason to follow the moral code of the Christianity, we would have a drastic increase in murder, robbery, and pillaging." That does not sound like your interpretation. That sounds exactly like she is saying that those people are only refraining from those acts because of their belief in God. I was making an analogy to her generalization. She assumed animals have no moral code. I simply asked if we know that for a fact. I suppose we're speaking hypothetically here? Any creature's consciousness of some moral code would be in proportion to their consciousness in general. A more advanced creature would obviously have a more advanced consciousness.

Huh. Well that sure makes it sound like those of us who are atheists, yet not murdering/robbing/pillaging, actually are better people in our cores than those you describe following the moral code of Christianity. So you are saying that the only reason most people are not doing those things is because their religion tells them it's wrong? But as Jenny asked (maybe in another thread), where do we see animals murdering for the fun of it? Do you know for a fact that animals don't have some sort of moral code? Is it not possible that they do, yet on a less intricate scale? (Less intricate to the extent that their species is less intricate than humans.)

Fair enough. But I've never seen any research showing the items I listed having any kind of positive effect on our bodies, only negative. Of course, carrots, in excess, can kill you, too. :D Which is basically my point. We can't legislate every last thing that can be harmful, nor do I believe we should. Yes, but I hope we never see the day that happens here in America! All I'm saying is that there are all kinds of "harmful" activities that we willingly take part in every day, and the simple fact that something has the potential to be harmful isn't just cause for it to be made illegal.

Okay, so what about hydrogenated oils? Aspartame? Pesticides on foods? Food dyes? Not a single one of those has any positive effect on our bodies. They harm our bodies without doubt. But they are not illegal. You simply can't argue that something should be illegal because it may cause harm in some cases. Then what about trampolines? Rollerblades? How many people have had numerous surgeries and then died due to complications from being overweight? They just couldn't abstain from junk food. Shall we make being overweight illegal too? I may choose to eat junk food (and I do often) even though it is harmful to my body. Is that the best choice I could make? No. Does that mean junk food should be illegal? No. And there are plenty of anecdotes telling stories of how childbirth harms some women's bodies and psyche. Should we also outlaw childbirth?

Here ya go!

So following this line of reasoning, we should make McDonald's illegal? I mean, if the only things that should be legal are things that aren't harmful, well, I guess our politicians have their jobs cut out for them.

"It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much -- the wheel, New York, wars and so on -- whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man -- for precisely the same reasons." (Douglas Adams)

Well personally, I really love The Magic School House!! I suppose the "magic" part could be a turn-off to some. And maybe even the "school" part. Hmm... I'll put some thought into it and see if I come up with anything.

My dd did Shurley 3 and 4, skipped 5, and completed 6 with no problems. We aren't continuing with Shurley (I don't think, anyway) but we would probably go on to 7 because there seemed to be quite a jump from 6 to 7.

Well, put it this way... the only time I have said that name to anyone in many many years was during a deposition last week for a lawsuit. I was under oath, so I had to. :cursing: And I shuddered as I said it. So it will probably be another ten or so years before I can muster the strength to say (or type) it again. Sorry. :o I guess me bringing it up and then not telling is like mentioning a recipe and not sharing it, eh? I will say, in the five or so years that I have been reading this board, I don't remember seeing anyone post with it as a name. It's one of those that you usually only hear eighty-year-old women named.

It was actually easier than I expected. I got a book of baby names and went through and picked out about twenty that I liked. Then I passed the list around to my friends and fellow students and had them pick their favorite that they thought fit me. I picked my favorite from their top three. :D

I hated my birth name so much that I had it legally changed as soon as I turned 18!! I remember being in first grade, and a new kindergarten student at my school had the same name, and I just felt awful for her! The last straw for me was that this really nice guy made the mistake of calling me the shortened version of my birth name (which is even worse) and I jumped his case. Then I felt so bad about it. I realized then that I had a problem, and it had to be fixed. My mom, to this day, doesn't know why the heck they named me it in the first place.

Same thing here. In fact, I will sometimes even gain weight. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, but I also think that exercising increases my metabolism which in turns makes me hungry more often. So I eat more, and it seems to negate the calories burned. I have given up on the idea of exercising to lose weight. It will make me stronger and more toned and healthier, but not skinnier.

Will do. :grouphug:

Glad to know I'm not the only one here in CO that is tired of the wind! I've only lived here 1 1/2 years, and I love CO, but by the end of April I was about ready to move somewhere else. Day after day of very gusty winds is somehow extremely draining, even if you don't have to be out in it. Have you lived in CO long? I would feel a little better knowing that this is not typical.

My dd11 had the same response. She just finished the second one and has asked me to put the third on hold at the library. She says these have been her favorite reads ever. I haven't read them myself, so I can't help you with the 8yo question. :o

Unfortunately, I am also an INTP. I say unfortunately not because I dislike who INTP's are, but because most other types don't really seem to like INTP's. (Or maybe it's just me.) Then again, there seems to be a high number of INTP husbands here. Maybe it is a more acceptable personality type in men than women. I guess I'm being awfully negative. Sorry. This has been a indescribably hard week to be me.

Ah, yes. Yet another show I miss now that we don't have cable. :tongue_smilie: <--That's my Gene impression. :) I'm not embarrassed by anything I watch, but my favorites these days are: LOST Survivor Big Bang Theory

That should be a pretty good range for a walk-around lens. I have a Nikon D80 and my zoom lens is a 70-300mm. I love the reach of the 300 end, but the 70 mm end is definitely not wide enough. I know that in Nikon land their 18-200 is considered The Walkaround Lens, so I think you should be good with the one you are looking at, as long as it gets good ratings. Have you looked at this site? They have good reviews and comments on lenses. The only thing I would say is that on the 250 mm zoom end, you will have increased problems with camera shake. It doesn't appear, after quickly scanning the review linked above, that it offers image stabilization or vibration reduction. My 70-300 has VR, and it makes a HUGE difference when trying to zoom in on a small bird some distance away. But the VR/IS increases the price dramatically, so if that one doesn't have it, finding one with it may very well exceed your price range. Other than that, it should be a great lens. I often wish my zoom had a wider wide end, but it's not all that hard to switch it out with my 18-55. Have fun!!

Thank you BOTH! Robin, you asked all the questions I have had swimming around in my head, and Jackie, you answered them perfectly! :thumbup:

Yes, my dd does, although come to think of it, she hasn't in quite a while. But for a while she was sleepwalking and sleeptalking usually twice a night, every night. What finally worked was to give her an epsom salt bath before bed. Apparently the magnesium absorbs into your body and helps. If you are interested in trying this, you would want to start out with maybe 1/3 cup in the bathtub. Then increase nightly until you are up to about one to one-and-a-half cups of salt per bath. Shel slept much sounder and awoke more rested after salt baths.

I love non-fiction! (Not self-help, though.) I love reading authors like Joseph Campbell, Carl Sagan, Richard Dawkins. And books about education, gardening, photography, etc. I need to give fiction a try, but I have a hard time finding books that appeal to me.